NeoPhotonics Corp of San Jose, CA, USA (a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of hybrid photonic integrated optoelectronic modules and subsystems for high-speed communications networks) has launched a low-power-consumption 28GBaud externally modulated laser (EML) with an integrated driver, which is designed for client-side 4x25 NRZ 100G, 4x50 PAM4 200G and 8x50 PAM4 400G applications. The new EML joins NeoPhotonics' family of EML lasers, which are currently shipping in high volume for 100G data-center and client-side applications.

Data-center operators and service providers are actively deploying client-side interface transceivers at 100Gbps and 200Gbps - and moving rapidly towards 400Gbps - leading to ever increasing demands for lower-power-consumption and smaller-form-factor components. NeoPhotonics' existing suite of 28GBaud EML lasers offer a solution for 100G client interfaces and are shipping in high volume. In a typical 100G client application, a stand-alone driver is needed between the CMOS-based CDR (clock & data recovery) IC and the EML to provide enough modulation voltage swing to the EML. The driver typically consumes around 1W of electrical power and occupies more than a square centimeter of board space inside the 100G transceiver.

NeoPhotonics' new 28GBaud EML integrates a driver - which utilizes NeoPhotonics' low-power linear gallium arsenide amplifier technology - with the 28GBaud EML at the chip-on-carrier (CoC) level. The CoC assembly fits into a four-channel transmitter optical sub-assembly (quad TOSA) designed for 100Gbps QSFP28 and CFP4 form factors, eliminating the need for a separate driver on the board. Users can then directly link the CMOS-based CDR IC to NeoPhotonics' 28GBaud CMOS-drivable EML, and benefit from simplicity, low power consumption, and space savings. In PAM4 applications, the integrated linear driver makes the new CMOS-drivable 28GBaud EML an option for 200Gbps and 400Gbps applications due to the simple and direct connection to the PAM4/CDR IC.

NeoPhotonics' CMOS-drivable EML is being designed into the firm's next-generation client-side 100G, 200G and 400G transceivers and will be available to external customers in second-half 2017. The new EML, along with NeoPhotonics' broad suite of products for line- and client-side 100G-and-beyond products, will be displayed in booth #3017 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition (OFC 2017) in Los Angeles (21-23 March).

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